Repeating air pressure gun



March 3, 1953 l.. L. WHITE REPEATING AIR PRESSURE GUN Filed July l, 1949IN VEN TOR.

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Patented Mar. 3, 1953 REPEATING AIR PRESSURE GUN Leo L. White, BeverlyHills, Calif., assignor to l'seiclrerbocker Plastic Co. Inc., Glendale,Calif., a corporation of California Application July 1, 1949, Serial No.102,513

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to air pressure guns of the type usedprimarily as toys or amusement devices, and one of its objects is toprovide a new and improved air pressure gun particularly designed toshoot light-weight spherical missiles similar to ping-pong balls; theballs being yieldably held within the barrel of the gun by a resilientseal-ing ring of rubber or the like until the air pressure behind itexceeds the restraining force of the sealing ring, at which point theball is forcibly expelled from the gun barrel.

More specically, the primary object of the invention. is to provide apump action air gun of the class described which is adapted to receiveand hold a plurality of balls that can be discharged one at a time asfast as the pump action of the gun is worked. To this end, l haveprovided a novel arrangement for holding the balls within the barrel ofthe gun and automatically advancing the next-indiane ball to the firingposition each time that one of the balls is discharged. In the preferredembodiment of the invention, the balls are loaded into the barrel of thegun, compressing a light spring which functions to urge the ballsforwardly against an annular sealing ring at the muzzle end of thebarrel. The said sealing ing is of rubber or the lilre, and is attachedaround its outer periphery to the gun barrel, the inside diameter beingslightly smaller than the diameter of the balls, so that the balls mustbe forced through the ring, stretching the same. The ring serves thedual function of sealing against leakage of air pressure around theball, and yleldingly restraining the end ball against leaving the muzzleend of the barrel. When the action oi" the gun is operated., the airpressure within the barrel forces the end ball out through the annularsealing ring with suincient velocity to cause it to fly through the air,and the spring then acts to advance the remaining balls within thebarrel so that the next in line is brought up to the sealing ring.

Another object of the invention is to provide a repeating air pressuregun of the class described that is attractive in appearance, and at thesame time, simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present inventionwill become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration ofthe following detailed description of the p-referred embodiment thereoi,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a longitudinally sectioned View of a repeating air pressuregun embodying the principles of my invention; and

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, taken through themuzzle end of the gun barrel, showing the details of the annular sealingring and the manner in which it works.

In the drawings, the gun is designated in its entirety by the referencenumeral 5, and is seen to comprise a stock 1 and barrel 8, the saidbarrel being slidably mounted on a guide rod l projecting forwardly fromthe front end of the stock. The stock is preferably molded of plastic,and may be formed with a pistol grip lli and trigger Il, the latterbeing enclosed within a guard i2. The trigger l l is merely ornamental,and serves no useful function other than to enhance the realisticappearance of the gun.

The guide rod 9 may conveniently be formed of a length of wood dowelembedded at its rear end in the stock l', the front end thereof beingslidably received within a bore i3 in a plastic housing lll which `ismolded around or cemented to the rear end of the barrel 8. A handle gripl5 is formed on the lower edge of the housing i4 and projects downwardlytherefrom. lThe bore l E is parallel to the barrel B, and the gun isoperated by pulling the housing lli and barrel 8 rear" wardly along theguide rod il.

Also embedded in the front end of the stock 'i and projecting `forwardlytherefrom is a metal rod pump plunger IE which slides through a hole 20in the rear end of the housing lil. The plunger it is coaxial with thebarrel 8, and mounted on its front end is a leather cup 2| which isclamped between two washers 22 and 23. A nut Ei is screwed onto the endof the plunger IG and bears against washer 22, clamping the assemblyagainst a shoulder 25 on the rod. The leather cup 2i is slidaole withinthe rear end of thebore 2E of the barrel, and functions as an air pumpon its forward stroke.

The iront end of the bore serves as a magazine to receive and hold aplurality of light-weight balls Sli similar to ping-pong balls. Theballs 3l! fit loosely within the bore 26 and are restrained againstleaving the muzzle end of the barrel by an annular, resilient sealingmember 3l of rubber or the like. As shown in Fig. 2, the balls rest onthe bottom of the barrel and do not touch the top, i.. e., there is anair space between the balls and the barrel except where the balls reston the bottom of the barrel, that is, the balls are out of contact withthe barrel except where they rest on the bottom of the barrel. Thesealing ring El is preferably, altho not necessarily, T-shaped in crosssection, and tapers radially inward, forming a relatively thin inneredge 32 which is flexii3 ble and stretchable, so that the balls 3Q canbe forced through it, as shown in phantom lines in Figure 2.

The flanged outer periphery of the sealing ring 3l is secured within aT-shaped channel formed between a fitting 33 and a (Jo-operating collar31E; the said fitting being pressed onto the end of the barrel 8, andthe collar being pressed tightly onto the tting. The inside diameter ofthe sealing ring 3i is somewhat smaller than the diameter of the balls3B, and the latter must therefore be forced through the opening in thesealing ring, stretching the lip 32 in the process. The snug, envelopingiit of the sealing ring 3l around the front end ball i forms an airtight seal, preventing leakage of air around the ball during thecompression stroke of the pump.

The balls 39 are urged forwardly along the barrel Ei by means of a lightcompression coil spring 35 which is attached at its rear end to acup-shaped spring keeper 36. The keeper Sli is pressed into the bore 25of the barrel, and is located just ahead of the forward extremity oitravel of the leather cup 2l. The keeper may take any desired form, andis herein shown as having a loop struck out of its base; the end oi thespring 35 being hooked through the loop, and the air compressed byleather cup 2i passing through the openings on either side thereof intothe front end of the barrel. A collar fil is attached to the front endof the spring 35, and engages the rear ball to push the entire group ofballs forwardly. The spring is of such length and tension that 'it maybe axially displaced so as to move the collar ll to a position where thedistance between the collar lli and the ring 3l is more than twice thediameter of the balls and more than twice the inner diameter of theresilient ring member 3l, so that the barrel may act as a magazine iormore than one ball.

The method of operation of my invention is believed to be sel-evidentfrom the drawings and the foregoing description. The balls are loadedinto the barrel by pushing them in through the annular sealing ring 3l,compressing the spring To operate the gun, the housing if@ with itsattached barrel 8 are pulled rearwardly with a quick jerk, which causesthe leather cup 2l to compress the air within the front end oi thebarrel, until the thrust of the air pressure against the front end ball3e exceeds the restraint of the sealing ring 3 l. At this point, therelatively thin inner edge of the ring bends outwardly and stretchesuntil the front end ball to pops such denly through the ring, leavingthe muzzle end of the barrel with sufficient velocity to ily through theair. The instant that the end ball 3 leaves the sealing ring 3E, the airpressure within the bore falls to zero, and the inner lip 32 of the ringsnaps back to its normal shape. The spring 35 lthen advances theremaining balls in the bore 25 until the next in line comes up againstthe seal ring 3i, in readiness i'or the next operation oi the gun.

While I have shown in considerable detail what l believe to be thepreferred embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that thesedetails are merely illustrative, and that various changes may be made inthe shape and arrangement of the several parts without departing fromthe broad scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In a repeater lgun in which a plurality of balls of a predeterminedouter diameter are successively projected from said gun the constructionwhich comprises an elongated barrel of a length suficient to accommodateat least two balls, a muzzle for said barrel, a resilient ring mountedat said muzzle, the internal diameter of said ring being less than theexternal diameter of said balls, air pressure operating means connectedto said barrel, the internal diameter of said barrel being greater thanthe external diameter of said balls, an air venting communicationbetween the walls of said barrel and over the balls rearward of theiorwardmost ball.

2. In a repeater gun in which a plurality ci balls of a predeterminedouter diameter are successively projected from said gun, theconstruction which comprises an elongated barrel of a length sufficientto accommodate at least two balls, a muzzle for said barrel, a resilientring mounted at said muzzle, a plurality of balls positioned in saidbarrel, means positioned in said barrel for holding said balls in a rowin said barrel with the initial ball pressed against said ring, theinternal diameter oi said ring being less 'than the external diameter ofsaidL balls, the ex- -ernal diameter of said balls being less than theinternal diameter oi said barrel, air pressure gen- -erating meansconnected to said barrel behind said halls, the space between said walland said halls forming an air pressure venting corrimunin cation throughsaid barrel between the wall and over said balls rearward of saidinitial ball.

3. lin a. repeater gun in which a plurality of balls of a predeterminedouter diameter are successively projected from said gun, the construetion which comprises an elongated barrel of a length sufficient toaccommodate at least two balls, a muzzle for said barrel, a resilientring mounted at said muzzle, a stock, a piston in said barrel, a pistonrod connected to said piston and to said stock, a housing for saidbarrel, a bore in said housing the axis oi said bore being parallel tothe axis of said barrel, a guide rod connected to said lstock andslidably positioned in said bore, a resilient ball holding meanspositioned in said barrel between said piston and said resilient ring, aplurality of balls positioned in a row between said holding means andsaid ring with the forwardmost ball pressed against said ring, theinternal diameter of said ring being less than the external diameter ofsaid ball, the internal diameter of said barrel being greater than theexternal diameter of said balls, the space between said balls and saidbarrel forming an air venting passageway between the wall and over saidballs rearward of said fcrwardmost ball and connect ing the portion ofsaid barrel at said piston with the said muzzle.

LEO L. WHITE.

REFERENCES CKTED The following references are of record in the nie ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 387,517 Jackson Aug. '7, 18882,296,834 Boynton Sept. 29, 1942 2,505,423 Pope Apr. 25, 1950 2,601,555Pope June 2li, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 36,376 AustriaFeb, 25, 1969

